Helping Our Children Toward God: Laying Gospel Foundations
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.—Psalm 78:4 (ESV)
Now that we’re at the midpoint of this series, it’s a good moment to pause and see how all the pieces fit. If we are ambassadors for Christ to our children, we want to represent Him faithfully, especially in the way we teach and train them.
Setting the Foundations: The Early Years
Our children may look sweetly innocent—especially when they’re asleep!—but they need the transforming power of the gospel as much as we do. Because they also inherit a sinful nature, we can teach them from a young age that God is real and that the world does not revolve around them, even though their hearts naturally feel that way.
This training begins long before they can articulate doctrine. The God who created the world also designed its moral order. Just as physical laws govern creation, God’s moral laws shape the path of blessing—what Tedd Tripp calls the “circle of blessing.”
Reading Scripture, singing truth, and modeling God’s character gives them categories for understanding His world. As they grow through the preschool years, we build on these truths and connect the dots. We demonstrate through our own lives that when we walk in His ways by faith, we experience His good design. Loving discipline helps bring our children back to that path when we wander from Him.
A Parent’s Role
As parents, reflecting His character in the home helps our children see what a relationship with God looks like. Our faithful consistency in teaching and training helps them see where the moral lines are. We warn them gently and truthfully, not to scare them but to help them understand that sin damages relationships—ours with them and theirs with God.
Methods of discipline will change as children grow, but the purpose remains the same: to show that sin is not the better way. Through our words, example, and even through lost privileges, we help them see that choices have consequences.
The Function of Discipline and Training
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 pictures a household where parents are constantly speaking to their children about the Lord. We “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD… and the wonders that he has done” (Psalm 78:4). We repeat truth again and again, trusting that God will help them understand these truths in time.
Without this explanation, children may misinterpret life, including the discipline they receive from us. As we correct them, we want our children to learn that they’re being disciplined for choosing a way that is against God’s good design and commands, not merely because they did not meet our standards or perform to our liking.
Similarly, when we reward them, we clarify that it isn’t about earning love either. We want to show them that trusting and obeying God’s ways leads to blessing—not as a formula, but as a relational reality. With our rewards, we are tangibly demonstrating what is true spiritually: good things (not always material things) come with obedience. In this way, we can make the most of these real-life opportunities to help them understand spiritual realities.
Praying for God to Intervene
Because this understanding is something only the Spirit can reveal, prayer is vital. We cannot change our children’s hearts; we can only point them, like a signpost, to the God who does. As we do this faithfully, we pray that they will see their inability to obey God on their own.
We also need to pray for ourselves—that we will trust God’s timing and persevere in consistency and faithfulness. He has written every day of our children's lives, and He alone can save. Our calling is to be faithful representatives of His character in the home.
Because every child is different, there is nuance. Even within the family, spiritual understanding is not like developmental milestones. Some grasp this young; others much later. It is far better not to push them into making a decision before they’re ready.
Again, it is not our witness and training that will save them. God doesn’t owe us results. Our job is simply to serve as a faithful witness to the Gospel, delivered as the opportunities arise. This is our privilege as parents. The end goal is not “praying the prayer,” but diligently making the most of our days with our children in the midst of everyday life.
Where to Go From Here
So, what can we do to start sowing seeds of the gospel in our daily lives? How do we know when they’re ready to believe? How might we make the most of the training opportunities in discipline moments? Let’s take a look at each of these questions:
Sowing Seeds Through Daily Life
As mentioned in an earlier post, Bible storybooks, songs, and everyday conversations are wonderful tools that help children grasp the broad storyline of Scripture. Children are not born knowing these truths because sin blinds us to them. So we teach them:
Who God is—good, holy, loving, powerful, and just. These helps build a foundation of trust.
Why they exist—to know, love, and trust Him. This establishes they are made for relationship with Him.
What sin means—choosing their way over His. Highlighting the heart helps us focus on the real culprit.
That consequences exist—because God is holy and right, wrongs must be dealt with.
Who Jesus is—the perfect Savior who restores us to God by taking the punishments we deserved for our sin through His death. His resurrection brings us hope, not just of heaven but for help today.
These truths build the framework for understanding the gospel personally. When we share these truths faithfully, they can become tools and reference points to draw from in daily life as they arise.
However, we need to remember facts alone do not save; only the Spirit can awaken faith. But we can pray and watch for ways the Lord might use us to help these truths make sense to our children in daily life.
Signs Your Child May Be Ready to Receive the Gospel
So how do we discern when God may be stirring genuine spiritual interest? Here are common indicators:
They realize their disobedience is more than “breaking rules” but choosing their way instead of God’s.
They show a personal interest in Jesus and ask spiritual questions.
They begin connecting their sin to a need for a Savior.
They desire to change, for the right reasons, not merely avoid consequences.
Their interest is steady, not merely emotional.
They can articulate simple truths about repentance and faith.
Children differ widely in when they might demonstrate these, so watch for these patiently and pray faithfully for them! Give them time to ponder and make decisions too without imposing timelines. There are no brownie points for early conversions!
Sowing Gospel Seeds Through Discipline Moments
Though unpleasant, discipline moments naturally open doors to talk about sin, consequences, and restoration. Though this is hard, and sometimes in the heat of the moment, these are the last things we are thinking, these moments actually make wonderful real-life illustrations that help our children see the reality and results of sin. You can plant seeds even with short and simple conversations:
Connecting behavior to the heart: “What we do comes from our hearts.”
Explaining why help is needed: “We all need God’s help—we cannot obey on our own.”
Showing how disobedience disrupts fellowship: “Disobedience gets in the way of our relationship with each other but also with God.”
Pointing back to God’s ‘circle of blessing’ and the joy of walking in His ways: “God’s ways are safe and good, even when they are hard for us.”
There is more to say, so in our next post, we’ll talk a bit more about how to share the gospel with our children, explaining confession and repentance, and then beginning to live in new ways through the Spirit.
